Rethinking Suspension

The site, a wetland mudflat located in the Wadala-Sewri region is a basalt outcropping that eventually slopes towards the wetlands and mangroves. It is a fairly remote, abandoned area where access is difficult. Environmentally the site is very rich in its flora and fauna where the entire basalt boulder is covered by a layer of greens. It is an ecotone with multiple ecologies meeting and coexisting simultaneously, such that the presence of one doesn't hinder the other. The wetland conservatory is imagined in a similar manner, where it doesnt disturb the flora or fauna, rather coexists along with it.

Provocations and Questions

1) How to negotiate this aspect where the built coexists or rather helps the unbuilt and vice versa?

2) What kind of form best supports the above argument and minimally disturbs the site?

3) What kind of spaces make an otherwise abandoned site, an inviting part of the community?

4) What are the impacts on the existing after a structure is built?

Design Intent

Consequently, some of the responses to the above questions were to raise the built form from the basalt boulder such that the existing flows are not greatly disturbed like the water flow during monsoons, the movement of animals is also another aspect to raise it and the existing flora should thrive as much as possible. The built form is seen as a series of frames that sits on the site with pods as spatial elements that form the conservatory. The raising of the structure also provides newer vantage points that face the wetland and thus enhance the experience.

Design Development

The idea was to suspend the building instead of raising it on stilts such that the spaces below can become communally active spaces. Along with the conservatory we had to design an additional program responding to the context, so a recreational space was imagined such that the Koliwada settlement near the site doesn't feel alienated by the introduction of such a formal space.

The structure is imagined as a set of portal systems from which modules get suspended or anchored to such that the ground frees up for the ecology to thrive. Another major concern was the sunlight reaching the ground and thus the intent was to make the structure as compact and lightweight as possible with minimal footprint.

The spaces are overlaid upon each other such that the meander through these portal frames and form overlooking spaces and cantilevered structures. Circulation spaces are imagined as bridges and walkways that connect these individual modules and overlook the undergrowth and ecology. The entrance is seen as a huge open space that helps you admire the structure and simultaneously view the wetlands.

The structure is centered around a central courtyard where the spaces towards north become public spaces and towards the south become private spaces like the laboratories and research areas. It follows the contours where your eye has a constant view of the wetlands at various levels. The heights of the spaces are purposefully kept low such that your eye is always directed outwards. The introduction of bridges, overlooking spaces, double height spaces, balconies, spill out spaces provide relief from the otherwise long continuous spaces that a portal structure affords.